The last few KMFDM albums offered us music that was a bit problematic. Sure - they were produced and performed flawlessly and had plenty of that (now slightly outdated) humour; however, they offered little in the way of experimentation or innovation. WWIII and Hau Ruck were a little bit like the iPods of industrial metal - stylish and familiar, but without any risky cutting-edge features. Luckily, Sascha Konietzko and co. seem to have realized the error of their ways and the result, Tohuvabohu, is more like one of those Chinese personal media players that can be worn as watches and include a lighter and pocket knife. In other words, this album is more Symbols and Money than Nihil and XTORT.

"Looking For Strange" recalls the pop hits of the 80s if Kraftwerk had a sexy female vocalist, the title track tackles Teutonic techno, "Not In My Name" sounds like Ladytron with metal guitars and finally, "Bumaye", with its operatic mood and epic bombast, might be the best track KMFDM laid to tape to this date. Crush object Lucia Cifarelli (or is it Lucia Konietzko now?) offers even more vocals here than on previous albums and as usual, her performance marks a noticeable improvement over the previous record. Long gone are the days of her insecure singing from MDFMK - she now is fully capable of adapting a suitable voice to whatever genre is thrown at her, with plenty of class and style. Meanwhile, Kaptn. K. is still his old self, offering appropriately shouted and yelled punk vocals to tracks like "Saft Und Craft" and "Spit Or Swallow".

Like all more experimental records by notable bands, Tohuvabohu also has its share of small faults but frankly, they are so superfluous as to be easily ignored. This album should be considered one of the best in KMFDM's long discography, in the same way that Kolsch is royalty among ales. Recommended not only to fans - hell, not only to fans of industrial or metal either. Who would have guessed KMFDM would once again sound vital and relevant?

Written on 23.01.2008 byjupitreas
With Metal Storm since 2002, jupitreas has been subjecting the masses to his reviews for quite a while now. He lives in Warsaw, Poland, where he does his best to avoid prosecution for being so cool.